New Delhi, May 09, 2024, IANS

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) The Tata-owned Air India will operate 20 Air India Express (AIX) routes to help the latter amid an ongoing strike by cabin crew members, said an airline official on Thursday.

“Air India Express is making every possible effort to minimise the inconvenience caused to our guests by this unexpected situation. We will be operating 292 flights today. We have mobilised all resources and Air India will support us by operating on 20 of our routes,” said the airline in a statement issued on Thursday.

Since Tuesday, over 300 cabin crew members have gone on mass sick leave alleging that despite assurances of job security, salary preservation, and recognition of seniority and expertise, there has been a visible departure from these commitments during the transition from AirAsia to Air India Express.

In 2023, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave its go-ahead to the Tata Group's initiative to merge the budget airline AIX Connect (previously known as AirAsia India) with Air India Express.

“Since last (Tuesday) evening, over 100 of our cabin crew colleagues have reported sick prior to their rostered flight duty, at the last minute, severely disrupting our operations. Because this action was mostly by colleagues assigned L1 role, the impact was disproportionate, disrupting 90+ flights even though other colleagues reported for duty”, read the letter by CEO Aloke Singh on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 74 flights were cancelled on Thursday owing to staff shortage.

“While we will continue to engage with our cabin crew colleagues with a commitment to address any concern, we are taking appropriate steps against certain individuals as their actions have caused grave inconvenience to thousands of our guests,” said the spokesperson.